Enough is never enough on a Xiaomi Mi Band. The latest version — Mi Smart Band 5 — looks similar to the previous edition but there are a number of upgrades, most of which are helpful. Most importantly, the fitness band is just what you need if you don’t want to complicate life any further. On a smartwatch there are smart features that will rarely be used. On the Mi Smart Band 5, most of the features are useful.

Though there has been no design change, this time around you don’t need to pop the device out of the band for charging. There is a charging pin at the back which magnetically attaches to a small charging unit that’s included in the box. So things have become easier.

The 1.1-inch screen can be amazingly bright (450 nits) even under direct sunlight, making every instruction easy to read. Typically inexpensive fitness bands come with poor screens. Not this one. The only feature that’s missing here is auto brightness level. I maxed out the brightness level which obviously drained battery life but it’s worth it.

The fitness band is water resistant to the point of going swimming and bathing, without worrying at all. There are 11 professional sports mode to log fitness activities and the list includes yoga, power walking and jump rope. The average user won’t miss out anything. Is the data accurate? Almost spot on. The only thing slightly off — the emphasis is on ‘slightly’ — is short-burst running data.

A big improvement has come in the way of sleep tracking. Not just sleep but short naps gets recorded well and the data is well displayed on the Mi Fit app (it’s a must-have on your phone). There is also an option to record menstrual cycle and ovulation phases.

In way of controls, there are plenty of them. The one that’s personally helpful involves changing volume and switching between tracks.

And the most useless one? Taking photos on the phone while clicking the shutter button the Mi Smart Band. A good app on the Band has to do with weather — it’s accurate and full of information.

All this brings us to the question whether one should buy the Mi Smart Band 5. With 14 days of battery life (brightness level lowered), accurate fitness data and a good level of sleep monitoring, there are enough reasons to buy the fitness band. The Mi Smart Band 5 is a good entry point to the Xiaomi world. And the company has made no compromises to make it happen.

At a glance

Device: Mi Smart Band 5

• Display: 1.1-inch dynamic AMOLED
• Charging: Magnetic
• Water resistance: 50m
• Battery: 14 days
• Sport modes: 11 (now with yoga tracking)
• Price: Rs 2,499